It was a humiliating ending to a case that prosecutors said was about "breathtaking corruption."

A federal jury convicted Kilpatrick, his longtime contractor friend Bobby Ferguson and his father Bernard Kilpatrick on a combined 34 charges. Among the most serious: extortion, bribery and racketeering, which the defense referred to as the government's "nuclear bomb." The jury deliberated for 14 days.

The verdict marked a landslide victory for the federal government, which turned its radar gun onto Kilpatrick about a decade ago after a homeless shelter operator donated money to the Kilpatrick Civic Fund in exchange for a political favor.

That donation, which was first disclosed by the Detroit Free Press, triggered an IRS investigation that transformed into a broader probe of widespread corruption throughout City Hall that has ensnared more than 30 convictions.

"Kwame Kilpatrick didn't lead the city, he looted the city," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said at a news conference, flanked by the prosecutors who tried the case and the federal agents who investigated it.

Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty of 24 of 30 counts. Ferguson, who also was led away in handcuffs, was convicted on nine of 11 counts. Bernard Kilpatrick was convicted on just one of four counts: filing false taxes. The jury acquitted him on two other counts and deadlocked on the most serious charge: racketeering.

The government built its case against the Kilpatricks and Ferguson through secret surveillance videos, wiretaps and cooperating witnesses - several of them Kilpatrick's closest friends and aides, who earlier pleaded guilty to various crimes and agreed to testify. Perhaps most compellingly, the government also used text messages from the defendants as evidence stitching together the crimes.

It worked.

After five months of testimony from 90 witnesses, the panel of eight women and four men concluded that Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferguson engaged in a pattern of racketeering that lasted for years. But the panel could not unanimously agree that Bernard Kilpatrick was part of this criminal enterprise, which originally included five defendants.

Ex-city water department director Victor Mercado pleaded guilty to conspiracy during trial. The fifth defendant, former Kwame Kilpatrick right-hand man Derrick Miller, cut a deal before trial and testified against the remaining three. Both await sentencing.

Bernard Kilpatrick, who faces up to three years in prison and remains free pending sentencing, was overcome with emotion after the verdicts were read. In the courtroom, he sobbed as he hugged his son, who smiled and kept saying, "It's OK, Pops. It's OK."

Kilpatrick and Ferguson each face up to 20 years in prison but could get more, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. This far outweighs the punishment he received for his unrelated crimes in the scandal involving sexually explicit text messages and an affair with an aide, triggering his eventual resignation in 2008 and imprisonment.

Kilpatrick shook his head at times as the verdicts were read Monday, at one point mouthing, "Oh my gosh." He appeared stunned as he left the courtroom and declined to comment.

Kilpatrick's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, and his three sons were not in the courtroom. But his mother, former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, sat alongside friends and other relatives who cried as they watched Kilpatrick and Ferguson leave the courtroom in handcuffs.

"Love you, baby. We love you," one woman shouted as Kilpatrick was led away.

"Stay strong," Kilpatrick responded, later turning his head and adding: "No doubt. No fear."

She echoed the theme that prosecutors hammered away repeatedly at trial: that the case was about greed.

"Kwame Kilpatrick stole money from the people of Detroit. And while Kwame Kilpatrick enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, he watched the quality of life erode for the people of Detroit," McQuade said. "The mayor cheated the system."

He did that, McQuade said, with the help of Ferguson, who secured $127 million worth of contracts while his friend was mayor of Michigan's largest city - the bulk of it illegally.

"Our community has spoken," McQuade said. "Our community has said you can't cheat the city and get away with it."

Detroit FBI chief Robert Foley said Monday was "an important day for justice and an important day for the city of Detroit."

Kilpatrick's lawyer James Thomas said they will appeal, and Kilpatrick maintains his innocence.

"He is definitely going to pursue that with every ounce of his being," he said. "I would expect that the judge is going to sentence him to a very difficult time. If that is the case, would you expect him to not do anything?"

Ferguson also proclaimed his innocence Monday and remained upbeat.

Coming out of the courthouse after the verdicts were announced, he said: "God is good."

Minority contractor Craig Davis Sr., owner of Craig's Carpentry, said he was glad to see a guilty verdict.

"I am extremely glad that the people voiced their concerns about this and that the prosecutors came forth and found this is a legitimate case, and that the jurors after months and months of deliberation decided their fate, and their fate was guilty," he said.

When Bernard Kilpatrick was asked whether the jury got it wrong, he said: "Absolutely."

Michael Rataj, Ferguson's attorney, said he was surprised by the verdict and is considering an appeal.

"Anytime you put your heart and soul into something like we did with this, you're disappointed," he said. "You never really prepare yourself for this. I'm definitely shocked by the verdict."

In most white-collar crime trials, defendants are allowed to remain free on bond until they are sentenced.

After the verdicts were announced, the prosecution argued Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferguson should be locked up immediately.

The government argued Kilpatrick has repeatedly ignored court orders, lied about and hidden assets in his state case and violated his parole conditions stemming from the text message scandal. Kilpatrick also has access to cash, the government argued, stressing he can't be trusted not to flee.

Attorneys for Kilpatrick and Ferguson argued they should remain free on bond pending their sentencing and said they weren't a flight risk.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds, who said it was the defendants' burden to prove they can be trusted to remain free on bond, concluded Kilpatrick hadn't proven that. She concluded the same for Ferguson, who has a 2005 felony conviction for pistol-whipping an employee and, the government says, was later found in possession of guns when he wasn't supposed to have them.

"I think this is a close call," Edmunds said after hearing arguments from both sides. Still, she ordered that both men be locked up pending their official sentencing dates, which have not yet been determined.

Witnesses during the trial told of Kwame Kilpatrick's lavish lifestyle - complete with luxury vacations, custom-made suits and golf outings - despite being at the helm of a city so broke it's now on the verge of a state-appointed emergency financial manager to right its finances.

In some cases, longtime friends testified they handed cash to Kilpatrick in envelopes.

Tonya Wells, 50, of Detroit went to the detention hearing

because she said she wanted to see for herself that Kilpatrick would be locked up.

"That's justice. He doesn't deserve to go home. He took money from the citizens of Detroit under false pretenses for his own profit," she said as she left the courthouse. "I'm disgusted."